"Are you okay?" Nova asked, her hand set in front of Lucian to help him get up. He took it and mumbled a thank you.
Nova, just like Thorin, was also one of Lucian's schoolmates, and it felt weird for him to receive any form of help from her because she had been ignoring him for over a month, since the day she confessed her feelings to him and he rejected her.
"Lucian is right." Nova said to the crowd, who were already forming a group of their own, searching for people they recognize along with those who look strong because no one was willing to speak of their skills out loud, afraid of who to trust. "It's best we stick together." She kept trying, but they walked away.
"You can do better, Nova." Thorin glares at Lucian; a lot of people have gathered behind him to join his team. "Don't tell me that you are still hung up over this loser who rejected you."
Nova blushed in embarrassment; those from their school already know of her rejection, and now the others from different schools know, thanks to Thorin.
"Come join my team, Nova; leave that loser to fend for himself." Thorin smiles at Nova and takes her hand, but she pulls away from him.
"I'm teaming up with Lucian." Nova's gaze moved towards the people who were already leaving, bored of the drama Thorin was putting on. "Anyone else interested in joining our team?" She asked in a hopeful tone, but there was no one.
The only one left standing behind was a girl called Luna. She didn't join the others out of choice, but because they didn't want to pick her. Luna had a gloomy, dark appearance, dark hair, and long bangs, which covered her eyes and made the others avoid her as though she were a curse.
"You." Nova came closer to Luna, trying hard to remember her name because although they went to the same school, her presence wasn't memorable. Nova could only remember the nickname other students gave to Luna and almost ended up calling her that. 'ghost girl.'
"Luna." The girl with dark hair spoke for herself; the smooth, fine sounds of her voice startled Nova, who gave her a surprised look because she sounded like an actual human and not a ghost. "My name is Luna." She repeated again.
Nova clears her throat. "Right. Would you like to join our team?"
Luna moved her head towards Lucian and Thorin, who were by the side, and then let out a deep sigh that suggested that she didn't want to be in the same team with Lucian but had no choice. She nodded her head at Nova.
Thorin let out a loud laugh; his teammates behind him snickered. "Good luck with ghost girl and the loser over there." He uses his thumb to point at Lucian and begins to leave. "If you ever change your mind, Nova, you are welcome in my team."
"Thank you." Lucian said, "But you don't have to stay with me when you don't want to." He begins to walk away, but Nova easily stops him by pulling his shirt; her grip was strong, and Lucian couldn't fight against it. His magic didn't enhance his strength like others; his current state was depressing, but he still felt a burning desire in his heart to live.
"We don't know what's out there." At that moment, a loud growl filled the stony dungeon. "You can't survive out there alone, not just you, but me as well. Let's all work together as a team."
—----------------------------------------------------
Luna's tummy growled. "I feel like a hungry beast."
Lucian still couldn't get himself to feel familiar with the sound of her voice that didn't match her appearance; in school she never talked. She had no friends and moved around the school hallway silently like a ghost.
"At this point, we might end up dying from hunger because any beast could kill us." Nova groaned in frustration.
The dungeon was like a dry land; there was nothing around them, no water, no plants, and they had been walking for hours. They hadn't met up with the others. They kept following a straight path.
The magical, flamy touch that was attached to the wall of the dungeon kept burning on and on; everything feels like a constant repeat in Lucian's eyes, and he felt like it was weird but hasn't bothered to voice out his opinion. He was already feeling guilty for being a burden.
"Don't you guys think it's weird that we haven't come across any dead bodies?" Lucian said. Deciding to say something before he ran mad with the constant worry in his mind. "We were told that this place is dangerous, but oddly enough things have been too clean around us—no dead bones, no dead plants, nothing."
"I think Mr. Smart Guy is right." Luna, stop moving. "Everything around here looks the same, almost as though we have been walking in circles."
'Mr. Smart Guy?' Lucian thought in annoyance, not knowing that, like Luna, his schoolmate had also given him a nickname because his grade always came out as the highest in the whole school. His nickname was something Thorin hid a secret from him and used to mock him behind his back. Luna and a few others in the school were aware of Thorin's true feelings for his best friend, but Lucian was clueless about the whole thing.
"You two are starting to freak me out." Nova wrapped her arms around herself. She blushed as Lucian brought his arm around her shoulder and then also around Luna's shoulder. Making the three of them create a circle among themselves where they could whisper quietly to each other.
"We made a mistake." Lucian was starting to realize that they created a team without examining who the strongest and the weakest among them were. It was obvious that he was the weakest, but without knowing what each of their abilities were, they could never create a plan to defend themselves. "Don't panic." Lucian's eyes move between Luna and Nova. "I think we are already being attacked, probably by a beast who is able to control our minds and place us in an illusion."
"What if we are all just being paranoid and we will soon get out of here if we walk faster?" Nova said hopefully.
"Smart guy is right," Luna said.
"Stop calling that." Lucian snaps. Irritated. "Let's go over our abilities before letting the creature know that we already know what's going on."
"I don't have any battle ability; I'm a healer."
A voice growls. The monster who had been hiding while following the three revealed itself from hiding; its body was perched up at the dungeon, and it had bat wings and small eyes that were deep inside its head, making it look as though it was blind. Its body was small but was as fat as a pig.
"You are right smart_" Luna stops herself. "My system is telling me that this is a monster that attacked its prey through their minds at first, but when it is found out—"
The monster growls again; its wide mouth reveals sharp canines.
"This isn't the time to talk." Nova formed lightning in her hand and directed it at the monster, but she missed. Before she could try again, the monster flew toward her, aiming its sharp canines at her neck.
Lucian moved fast without thinking, jumping and pushing Nova out of the way. He tries throwing little stones at the beast that strides towards them with menace, but the monster dodges the stones.
"We are dead." Luna's trembling legs move backwards.
"We are not going to die." Lucian moves forward and punches the beast on the neck, avoiding its sharp teeth that try to chew on his hand.
The beast used its bat-like wings to push him to the side. It turned its full attention to Lucian, who spat out blood as a result of his back slamming against the wall.
Lucian blurred as his body adjusted to the pain he was feeling; he remembered Luna's words, 'We are going to die.'
The beast ran towards Lucian but was hit by lightning just as he was able to bite Lucian's head off.
"Is it dead?" Nova asks. Lightning sparking from her hands.
The space around them changes, revealing the dead bones of a human, along with an old rusty sword. The flaming torch was gone, but the dungeon emitted a dark, faint light of its own; no one could tell if it was morning or day.
Lucian took the rusty sword and dragged his wounded body to the beast that was breathing faintly. He stabbed the beast in its neck. The monster let out a painful shriek. Lucian pulled the sword out, revealing the abnormal purple color of the beast's blood, and stabbed it again in a place he hoped was its heart. "It's dead." Lucian let out a deep breath and kept his eyes on the dead monster. He still couldn't get over the fact that he almost just died. If not for Nova, he would be dead.
Luna places her hands on Lucian's back, healing him with her magic. "Are you okay?" She asked, but it seems as though Lucian couldn't hear her.
He could hear nothing but the hard beating sounds of his heart, and he could feel something strange seeping into him as he remained close to the beast.
"Can you use fire magic?" Lucian asks Nova.
Luna raised her brows in her bangs, but no one could see the expression on her face.
"Yes, I think so, but it's not as strong as my lightning skill."
"It's okay, as long as you cook up this beast for us to eat."
"Are you crazy?!" Luna shouted. "That monster is full of demonic miasma; it's harmful to humans."
"You are a healer." Lucian said, somehow, he felt like he had acquired a knowledge he never knew before until the beast was dead. The more he used his newly acquired magic that he had stolen without realizing through his cheat skills, the more his body felt weak and his head felt dizzy.
"Try your best to purify the beast and level up."
"He's falling." Nova held Lucian before his body could touch the ground.
Luna remained quiet. She had unconsciously stopped healing Lucian while listening to him.
'It turns out that choosing these two losers was worth it after all.'
"What?" Lucian voiced out as he stared into Nova's eyes. Somehow while staring into her eyes, he had the ability to read her mind, but he didn't want to believe what he heard. At the same time, he was able to understand how the monster was easily defeated with his back turned to Nova; it didn't know she was going to attack because it couldn't read her mind. With these final thoughts, Lucian passed out.